Traces
by katherinefics
Summary: The song he liked, the names of his friends, his favorite TV show... Someday, all that will be left will be traces.  Based off of chapters 21 and 95 of Moments.


**A/N: This is for Jelly Babes 101, who requested me to write a story about chapters 21 and 95 of Moments. So go check those out if you want a little backstory.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Sisters Grimm**

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><p>The house is uncharacteristically silent.<p>

Throughout her time here, it had always been loud, filled with sounds ranging from joy to fear to anger. When she was younger, she used to wonder if it was enchanted to make everyone speak.

Now she knew she was wrong.

There were six people here, at the least. All the siblings (both real and metaphoric), her parents... But they were all silent, unsure of what to say or do.

Daphne lives in the kitchen, baking and cooking and providing food for everyone. Sabrina's not sure what she'd do without Daphne there, always ready to put the next meal on the table (not that anyone in the house could bring themselves to eat), willing to make anything and everything. The girl has inherited her Grandmother's knack for cooking and has just graduated from culinary school. Sometimes Sabrina feels bad about closing her little sister off, not letting her in emotionally and making sure not to cry much in front of her. It's not that she doesn't want Daphne's support, she decides. It's just that she's used to being the big sister here. Chopping, peeling, and frosting are Daphne's specialties. Comforting Sabrina is not.

Red is quiet, gentle about it. She handles lots for Sabrina, from the funeral percussion to the wake to breaking the news to other family and friends. Sabrina is sad to say it, but the reason Red's the only one who can handle doing these things right now is because she was the least involved in the child's life. She was Auntie Red, yes, but she rarely visited, only during the holidays and big events. You see, Red has a family of her own now, and she's finding it hard to do anything anymore without having to drag along one of the kids or the husband. Heck, Sabrina is lucky Red is here, was able to get away for a bit and help out. They may not be as close as the others, but Red and Sabrina had each other's back through everything. And now, Sabrina really need her back, more than ever.

Basil, holly cow, Basil. How is it that at only sixteen he seems to have more knowledge than anyone else Sabrina's talked to? _As a matter of fact, how is it he's already sixteen?_ Sabrina wonders to herself. _It seems only yesterday he was still a little baby, bubbly and carefree. _Basil always seems to be in the right place at the right time, with the right advice and knowledge. He's the reassuring factor, the level-headed one. Relda used to say he took after his namesake. Sabrina thinks she must've been right. She finds it strange, though, that Basil managed to stay okay now, after... The death. After all, Puck had taken in Basil as his own, becoming his mentor and taking on the characteristic "big brother" role Basil was missing. Basil visited Puck and Sabrina often, and Sabrina assumed Basil had considered her child as his own sibling. She wonders if he morns alone, when everyone is too busy to see him and he's stuck nothing and no one to turn to.

Basil has no one to turn to because Puck, his mentor, his older brother, his advisor, is taking it worst of all. He stays in his room, coming out only for the funeral and meals (even though he barely touches whatever meal Daphne's put in front of him). Sabrina is the only one who he talks to, because they're husband and wife, and husband and wife means turning to each other "through thick and thin". In the night, when Sabrina re-enters their room, she'll wordlessly drop whatever she's doing, climb in next to Puck, and hold him. He'll cry into her for hours, and Sabrina is left standing, always the strong one, holding the weight for both of them. She'll hum into his ear and trace patterns on his back until he falls asleep.

At this point in the night, Sabrina will get back up and change and wash up and try to get ready for bed without thinking about _it. _It's one of the rare times of the day that's she's left alone with her own thoughts and memories, trying to hold them back as she strips out of whatever she's wearing that day and splashes water on her face.

For Sabrina has her own way of coping. Instead of cooking or helping, or closing herself off, she blocks everything out. She refuses to think about _it, _any of it. How _he _went from being a happy, stubborn (they always said he took the most after her) child to one of sickness and weakness in just a few days. How he gasped for his last breaths, trying to hang on to his life until the minute it was time to go. How one month can take her life from being _so, incredibly happy_ to being the worst time in her life.

She still hasn't touched his room. She doesn't want to clean everything out, to cleanse her life of him. She still has some belief that if she leaves it, keeps it just the way it was when he left it, he would magically come back, at least in spirit. Maybe it they keep his room like that, maybe if they continue talking about him in the present tense, maybe if they leave his place at the dinner table...

But she knows eventually they'll have to get rid of it all.

They can't keep it all forever, eventually rooms will have to be cleaned, boxes will have to be sorted through, place mats will have to be upraised. Pictures will be taken down, eye color will be forgotten, his clothes donated.

And then what will be left?

A pen that he once used. His favorite song playing on the radio. A phrase he used to say.

Eventually, all that will be left will be traces.

And that's the last thing Sabrina wants to happen.

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><p><strong>AN: I briefly considered making a twist at the end where they're all morning Elvis, but then I though that would be too weird, plus I pretty much wrote this 'cause someone requested it, so my idea was quickly crushed...**

**(In case you haven't figured it out, or if you haven't read Moments, this is about the aftermath of the death of Sabrina and Puck's first child)**

**I also always saw Puck having a soft spot for Basil (as you can see in some of the Moments), and I always see Basil going to Puck for advice since they're the only guys in the Grimm Gang (yes, that's what I'm calling them :D) and... yeah. I think I'm kind of rambling here. XD**

**Anyone have any info on book 9? Half of me really wants it to come out, but the other half doesn't because then the series will be over. *cries***

**~... Oh, I'm so used to signing these 'Queen'... but I guess I can't anymore, huh? I guess I'll start signing out as... oOStarryEyedOo**


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